Microsoft Cybersecurity Breach Raises National Security Concerns

Although Microsoft Corp. has denied that the hacker who penetrated its network in October gained access to any of the company's source code, a recent report by a Washington-based think tank is warning that the compromise may hold grave national security . . . Although Microsoft Corp. has denied that the hacker who penetrated its network in October gained access to any of the company's source code, a recent report by a Washington-based think tank is warning that the compromise may hold grave national security implications. In a report released this month titled "Cyber Threats and Information Security: Meeting the 21st Century Challenge," the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) concluded that the government and the private sector should be concerned about the "trustworthiness" of future Microsoft products in the aftermath of the hack into the company's network. Former Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre, a longtime cybersecurity proponent in the defense and intelligence communities, heads the CSIS.

"It is doubtful that the millions (sometimes billions) of lines of code required to power Microsoft's products could readily be sanitized," the CSIS report states. "With most military and government systems powered by Microsoft software and more generally reliant on [commercial, off-the-shelf systems], this recent development can pose grave national-security-related concerns," the 73-page report concludes.

Microsoft, however, strongly disagrees with the analysis.

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